I recently purchased a Ruger Mk III Hunter at a gun show. I was told it was in new, unfired, condition. It certainly looked to be true. Whenever I purchase a gun in this manner, I always field strip and inspect it for safety before firing it. This is when I discovered the issue. As stated in the instructions, I made sure the gun was uncocked, then used a paper clip to open the mainspring housing latch. So far so good. The problem is the housing will not swing out of the frame, moving only about 3/16" before hanging up. When it stops, it feels solid. Both before and after the attempted dissassembly (pun intended), the weapon appears to function normally. The magazine inserts smoothly without any catches, dropping free when the release is pressed. The bolt can be cocked without undue force. And the gun can be dry fired. When cocked, the safety functions normally. With an empty magazine in place, the bolt locks to the rear. When the magazine is removed, the gun will not fire. The trigger pull doesn't seem to out of line with an out-of-box .22. If anything, it seems a little light. In retrospect, the hammer doesn't seem to be striking with very much force. Could it be the hammer strut is bent, not allowing the hammer to travel forward all of the way? Does anybody have any experience with this issue?
Tintop

I've field stripped mine(mk111 talo) many times and still need a small wooden dowel and rubber hammer to knock the main spring out( and in).
The main spring should swing out however.
I've had mine in the same situation. Can't remember what it took to fix. I think hammer has to be all the way forward and clip out.
forget the instructions that say hold gun up or down to let gravity move hammer. Don't work on mine. Use a small screwdriver to move hammer.
These guns can be a real puzzle at first.
Go to rugers web site.There is a video to help you.
Wish I could be more help

Thanks for the responses.
1) Yes the magazine is out of the gun, hammer down, & safety off.
2) I can not watch the video. My internet connection is too slow. (dial up at 26400 bps)
3) When the gun is dry fired, it gives every indication the hammer has fallen.

Be that as it may, I removed the grips, the plug underneath the mainspring housing "tunnel", and the crosspin at the base of the hammer strut (the one the manual says to be sure the strut does not end up behind). With this stuff out of the way, I was able to press on the hammer to see if it would move forward any. It would not. After this, I reassembled the pistol. It appears to function normally, just can not get the main spring housing to swing out of the pistol for field stripping.

tintop...
Take this question to...http://www.guntalk-online.com/forum/
And post it there... I assure you bullseye will be able to help you. If you prefer... I am pm'ing my phone number to you... I will get my MKIII out and try to go step by step thru it with you over the phone... i have free long distance so if you prefer reply to my PM with yours and a time you want me to call... right now I have ribs on the grill but will be free in 30-45 minutes from 7:30 central time...
Brent

Tintop,put the thing back together and remove plastic grips. Spray brake-clean(WITH PLASTIC STRAW) down around firing pin,slide and inside of mags.Blow dry with compressed air. Clean and lube overall gun(slide,rails,trigger ass`y. mags )with Breakfree or comparible product and be done. Competely strip... you ask for trouble. My MK1 has many thous. rds through it with many more to go. Wished rest of guns were simple as this one.

Tintop,put the thing back together and remove plastic grips. Spray brake-clean(WITH PLASTIC STRAW) down around firing pin,slide and inside of mags.Blow dry with compressed air. Clean and lube overall gun(slide,rails,trigger ass`y. mags )with Breakfree or comparible product and be done. Competely strip... you ask for trouble. My MK1 has many thous. rds through it with many more to go. Wished rest of guns were simple as this one.

By "completely strip" do you mean following the Ruger instructions to remove the pin and locking mechanism and so forth, or do you mean going beyond that?

I spoke with the tech at Ruger. He said to just do the spray and lube thing without dismantling anything routinely, but to occasionally do the lock removal procedure.

I strip mine down once or twice year. but I only did it to clean the bolt mechanism and trigger group . Now I have a speed strip kit from Majestic arms and I can pull the bolt out in 5 seconds without tearing the whole gun appart. I did the same thing before but I just worked with it a little and it came apart. The next time I made sure it went back together properly.

__________________
" Take your children hunting when they are young and they will hunt for less when they are older "

First off, I want to thank everyone for their responses to my dilemma. The solution proved to be something very simple. Evidently, the previous owner had been fiddling with the internal safety lock and hadn't fully disengaged it. The head of the lock pin (item #53 in the expolded view in the instruction manual) was prodruding just far enough to catch on the frame when the main spring housing was swiveled outward, but was threaded in far enough to allow the pistol to function. Once the lock pin was threaded in all of the way, the gun disassembled without any further issues.

I think here might be a good place to give a word of caution. The manual states when one is reassembling the weapon to insert the magazine, pull the trigger with the muzzle pointing downward, and allow the hammer to fall forward in the fired, or decocked, position prior to attempting to latch the main spring housing. However I noticed on my sample the hammer will not fall on its' own without assistance. I investigated into why not, finding the magazine disconnector spring (item #37 in the manual) puts a very slight axial load on the hammer. The resulting drag is very slight, but enough to prevent the hammer from falling by gravity alone. Be careful! I hope this information helps others who may encounter disassembly/reassembly issues.
Again, I want to thank everyone for their suggestions.
Sincerely,
Tintop

sounds like u didnt put it back together correctly.check the ruger website for owners manualdirections for reassembly.when you put these pistols back together it is necessary to hold it at a certain angle.if u dont the hammer gets bound up

Take the grips off. Dry fire it. Look up into the action and you will see a little piece of metal (don't remember what it is)either hanging down or jammed down on a cross pin. You don't want it stuck on top of this pin. Pull the trigger and turn it upside down and shake it, point it up while it's still upside down then turn it rightside up and the little piece of metal should be hanging down like it's supposed to do. now the mainspring should pull out just fine. Reassemble in the same condition.

__________________
"Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress, but I repeat myself." Mark Twain

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